The Bible Top 40

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II Timothy 2:15

 

 

It is fitting that on a day when we have just witnessed the dedication of a child to God by his parents that we turn to a verse from the letter of Paul to his own “son in the faith,” Timothy.  On Paul’s first missionary trip, as he went about the world spreading the Gospel and planting churches, he stopped in the village of Lystra.  It is believed that Timothy was an early convert of that ministry.  By the time Paul came through the city on his second missionary journey, Timothy had matured into an impressive young man.  So impressive, in fact, that he was chosen to join Paul and Silas on the reminder of the trip. 

 

He traveled with Paul and Silas helping them plant churches in Philippi and Thessalonica, where he stayed behind as pastor.  Then he rejoined Paul and Silas in Berea, then he worked as Paul’s personal representative in Thessalonica and Corinth, bringing them words of instruction and encouragement.  After serving along side Paul for a number of years, Timothy was placed in Ephesus as the pastor, where he was given the task of fighting the false teachings that were prominent there.  It was during that time that Paul wrote him two letters, encouraging him and challenging him to remain strong.  These two letters are some of the most personal and insightful writings we have from Paul. 

 

Second Timothy, in particular, is very poignant.  Paul knows that he is near the end of his life.  He is in a Roman prison for the second time, and the executioner’s axe is being sharpened.  He writes, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  Paul begs for Timothy to “come to me quickly, and bring the books, especially the parchments.”  He calls Timothy, his “beloved son.”  He writes in chapter 2, verse 1, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus…”

 

Can you hear the passion?  Can you sense the emotion of Paul’s words?  They show the concern of a parent for a child, and they carry within them the desire of any Christian parent – that their child would remain faithful to the end.  Today we have witnessed Steve and Mary committing to raise Samuel in a godly home, and pray that he will one day be “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” and now we get to read a letter from a parent to a son, with the same desire on his heart.

 

But while we celebrate the beginning of new life today with Steve and Mary, in Paul’s case it is the opposite end of the spectrum.  Paul is at the end of life.  These are his last words.  Think for a moment about what you might say to your child if you knew they were you last words to her.  What would be the final, last phrase that you would want ringing in their ears?

 

“Last Words”

 

Paul’s last words to Timothy are a mixture of warnings, encouragements and instruction.  He tells him to “stir up the gift of God which is in you,”  he reminds Timothy that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  Throughout the letter, we hear his loving words:

 

 

Words of instruction, caution, encouragement, desire.  It is in this setting that we find our verse for today.  We are engaged in a study of “The Bible’s Top 40,” verses of Scripture that I believe every Christian ought to know – to be familiar with, to be able to find in the Bible, maybe even be able to quote!?

 

Today’s verse is 2 Timothy 2:15.  “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 

 

Some of us may have heard this verse from the King James Version of the Bible.  It reads, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

 

While the King James uses the word, “Study,” here, I think the New King James rendering of the Greek as, “Be diligent” is more accurate.  The original word, stoudason (spoudazo), means “to make haste, to persist with zeal, be eager, take pains, or make every effort.”  Obviously a lot more than “study.” Paul is saying that we should be very careful if we are to meet with God's approval. 

 

Notice, that the verse does not say that we need to be diligent in order to become approved unto God. It says " to present yourself approved to God."  Our diligence in life is not to be done to try to earn God's favor.  Our standing before God is not determined by our good deeds or our best religious efforts.  Salvation is found only through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, not through our good works in this life.  “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no man can boast.” 

 

No, Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to be diligent in order to become approved by God.  Rather, we are to live a life that can one day be presented to God for his approval.  This is in direct conflict with most of the values of man.  We want to impress the boss; the girls; the guys on the team.  We want to drive the nicest car; have the best clothes; live in a small palace.  Much of our priorities and values are all about what others think of us. 

 

But Paul encourages Timothy to live a life that he will one day be able to have reviewed by God and that will be stamped “Approved!”  He follows this up with by saying, “be a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed…”  As I thought about it this week, I was reminded of the story Jesus told of the servants who were given a portion of their masters riches to care for while he was gone.  The story is found in Matthew 25.  The master gave one servant 5 thousand, another 2 thousand and another 1 thousand.  The first two were diligent, they worked hard, and were able to present dividends to their master.  The third one squandered the opportunity, simply keeping the money in a lock box buried in the back yard.  When the master came home, the first two presented their money, and the dividends they had earned by their work, to their master.  The master was pleased with their work, but not with the one who was lazy and wicked.

 

That is a picture that Jesus gave us of our lives.  We can either be diligent, making the very best of what God has given us, and be approved; or we can squander his gift, and be ashamed.

 

So how do we live this life that will be approved?

 

By “rightly dividing the word of truth.” 

 

The phrase rightly dividing comes from a Greek phrase that means, literally “to cut a straight path.”  Roads were perhaps the greatest achievement of the Roman Empire.  The people of Paul and Timothy’s day were well aquainted with the network of roadways that led to every corner of the empire. 

 

I remember when I was a teenager driving with my dad on a stretch of highway in West Virginia.  At one time it had been a two-lane road, but a second set of two lanes had been laid down next to the original.  The later set was flat and relatively straight for West Virginia, while the other set of lanes rolled like waves on the ocean.  My dad said, “See how those other lanes rise and fall?  And this set is flat?  That’s thanks to Robert LeTourneau.”  LeTourneau, it turns out, was the guy who invented the earthmover.  His huge machines were the first to tackle hills and go through them instead of over them.

 

When you see that phrase “rightly dividing the word of truth,” that’s the image you should picture.  If we are going to live a life that is going to receive God’s approval as Christians, a life that will not cause us to be ashamed when we stand before him, we need to “cut a straight path” through the word of God.  That means that we don’t fall victim to the rise and fall of every person who comes along with some new idea.  All through this letter, Paul warns Timothy to confront people who are teaching bogus doctrines.  He warns him that “Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived,” in verse 3:13.  The only way to know the truth is to be diligent, to be careful, to take great pains to cut a straight path through this Word.

Over the years we have done re-roofing jobs for a number of the families in the church.  After a while, you start to get good at it.  But no matter how good you might be, you still need to snap a chalk line every now and then to make sure you are putting the shingles on straight.  A measurement is made from the edge of the roof to a specific point, then on the other end of the roof, another measure is made.  Then a chalk line is stretched tight between the two points, and the line is snapped, leaving a line of colored dust that is perfectly straight between the point, and even with the line of the roof edge.

 

It’s the only way to be sure you’re on the right line.

 

We need to do the same in our Christian lives.  Day by day, we need  take a measure from the word of God, and be diligent to insure that our lives are in line with what this word teaches. 

 

It doesn’t happen by accident.  It doesn’t happen by good intentions.  Just like a line of shingles on a roof won’t be straight just because you want it to be, you have to be diligent.

 

Steve and Mary have today committed themselves to raise Samuel with that line in view.  They have committed themselves to be diligent in their own lives.  Let’s all do the same.

 

2 Timothy 2:15.  “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 

 

Like all the other verses from series, let’s not just hear it, not just read it, let’s apply it.